Law Office of Arkady Itkin 

Generally, under California law, punitive damages are only available if there is an evidence that the conduct of the party at fault was either intentional and malicious or in conscious disregard for the consequences. As such, punitive damages are not available in the vast majority of injury accidents which are caused by ordinary negligence of a driver or another party that should have exercised greater care in acting in a safe manner. 

This means that punitive damages may be available against a driver who causes an accident intentionally or is motivated by some kind of ill will when acting carelessly on the road. Recently, I represented a person who was injured by another driver who was deliberately chasing him after being "cut" on the road by my client, caught up with him and broadsided my client, causing him severe injuries and mild brain trauma.

The opposing counsel, defending the insurance company of the driver at fault, didn't seriously contest my argument that the defendant, in addition to paying for the typical accident damages (medical expenses, wage loss, pain and suffering, emotional distress, etc.) should be liable for punitive damages.

Having studied the more and the less serious injury accidents in San Francisco that involve pedestrians, I noticed that there are two common (but not often discussed) situations in which a driver is more likely to hit a pedestrian when making a right turn:

1. Turning right while making sure that the road is clear for upcoming traffic. Have you ever caught yourself turning rolling forward and right at an intersection while looking to your left to make sure that the road is clear for upcoming traffic? This is a very dangerous move, as the pedestrian who might have started crossing the street just assumes that you will stop without even making sure that you see him. This might end up in a low-speed but nevertheless a serious injury accident. 

2. Not looking far enough to your right when making a right turn. It is especially important to look all the way to the right to make sure that you see all the pedestrian who are crossing the street and who are just about to cross the street on the the more crowded streets of downtown San Francisco. No looking all the way to your right, where the pedestrians actually begin crossing the street, increases the risk of hitting a pedestrian at a point where the vehicle almost completed the right turn, impacting the pedestrian with its side. 

Keep the above two warnings in mind when you turn right on a red light, and these turns will be much safer - for pedestrians and for you.

A typical scenario: a person sustained an injury in an auto-accident. At first, that injury might not seem or feel to be very serious, but the injured still wishes to get medical care. He gets one of his friends to refer him to a local Chiropractor who treats him for a 3-5 months without referring the patient to other specialists. 

This kind of treatment history will necessarily reduce the recovery. I work with some great Chiropractors in San Francisco and Sacramento areas who do a great job for a very reasonable rates for their patients, many of whom are recovering from serious injury accidents. However, I am also aware of the general perception of Chiropractic professional in the community. And the insurance companies are aware of this skeptical perception as well. They know, that the opinion of a Chiropractor is not nearly as credible as that of an a medical doctor. Further, a successful argument can be made by the defense that if an injured person only sought treatment from a chiropractor, this means that he/she wasn't injured seriously; otherwise he would further treatment elsewhere. 

Even more importantly, not having a thorough medical examination with an M.D. or an orthopedic surgeon may aggravate a very serious injury (injury to discus, vertebrae, etc...) and make the recovery much slower and painful if not diagnosed and addressed properly. 

Thus, it is very important that you see your primary physician at least once and discuss referral to an orthopedic specialist or another doctor who can take your x-rays and examine your injuries more thoroughly for possible disc protrusions/bulges, lacerations, fractures, and other injuries that might not cause as much pain at first, but the ones that tend to also exacerbate with time, if not treated promptly.